After spending a combined 32 years in the league, Allen, Garnett and Pierce earned the right to call themselves champions following the Celtics' 131-92 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at the TD Banknorth Garden.

With the game clearly in hand in the fourth quarter, head coach Doc Rivers removed his three All-Stars from the game to a rousing ovation from the home crowd. Smiles, hugs, tears, laughing and joyous shouting continued until the clock ran out and the real party could begin.

"You guys look at Kevin, myself and Ray," Pierce said, "we sacrificed so much of what we did throughout our careers to get to this point because we've done everything we've been able to do individually, won all type of awards, but never made it to the mountaintop, and today it's like a breath of fresh air."

Pierce was unanimously named Finals MVP, averaging 21.8 points over the six games. The Celtics captain finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds and a team-high 10 assists in the series-clinching game.

The foundation for this historic season was laid on July 31, 2007, at the introductory press conference for Garnett -- acquired via trade from Minnesota -- and Allen -- acquired via trade from Seattle. Rivers spoke with Pierce and the two newest arrivals about what it would take to win right away. Talks resumed during the team's preseason trip to Rome and London, and continued throughout the season.

Even though the Celtics finished with the league's best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, this season was not without its bumps as the trio and the rest of their teammates figured out how to play with and for one another.

"We always came back to each other as a team, and to finally win this and to prove we're the best team in the NBA this year, everything we went through was definitely worth it, and we know exactly what it takes to be the best," Allen said. "It's not easy, but to be the best you have to give up a lot, and we gave up a lot but we definitely took a lot along the way."

Added Garnett of that first public meeting in July, "We said no more excuses. This is what it is. We've all talked about getting personnel on the team. We said from Day One this is Paul's team. Ray and I had no problem with that. Doc let us know that the three of us were going to have to sacrifice. I know it sounds old fashioned and cliché, but it's just real talk."

En route to winning the first championship in 22 years, the Celtics survived a seven-game series in the opening round against the Atlanta Hawks and a seven-game thriller in the next round against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. The Detroit Pistons were supposed to prove a difficult test for Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Celtics dispatched of Detroit in six games.

In facing this year's league MVP in Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers, some expected the Celtics to be pushed to the limit, if not fall to their longtime rivals. Allen, who struggled throughout much of the playoffs, found his form against Los Angeles, averaging 20.3 points over the series and tying a Finals single-game record with seven three-pointers in Game 6. Allen also established a record with 22 3-pointers overall in the Finals.

Garnett, who described his Game 5 effort as "garbage," dominated to the tune of 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting and 14 rebounds in Game 6. In his 13th season, Garnett was not letting his teammates down again when they were so close to a title.

"I just want to say, other than my kid being born, this has got to be the happiest day of my life right now," Garnett said. "I'm going to be hoarse, I don't plan on sleeping for a week and months. If you're looking for me, personal friends, my number is about to change."

When Rivers elected to remove Garnett, Pierce and Allen with 4:01 remaining, all three eventually came up to him to express their gratitude. Later, Pierce, who had his ups and downs with Rivers over the four years that they have been together in Boston, doused his coach with what is the first Gatorade shower on the court.

"They all said 'thank you,' and I said 'thank you' back," Rivers said. "Paul, obviously we -- it's just so sweet. He just kept saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with me again,' and I kept saying the same thing to him. So it was really a nice moment."

Rivers got the three All-Stars to trust in each other and their relatively younger teammates. As far as the team being able to put it all together in a single season, Rivers said that timing is everything.

"You know, their money can buy everything except for the trophy, and the only way you're going to do that is you're going to have to lean on someone else to achieve that goal, and you have to lean on each other and you're going to have to trust your teammates," Rivers said. "I thought as important as it was that they trusted each other, I thought it was far more important that they trusted the other guys. They obviously knew that -- Ray knew that Paul and Kevin could play, but they had to trust [Rajon] Rondo and [Kendrick Perkins] and Leon [Powe] and [James Posey]. I thought that was far more important than them getting along, and they did that."

After all of the sacrifices that Allen, Pierce and Garnett made throughout the season, it seems like rest is the only thing that they plan on sacrificing in the near future.

"Let me enjoy this," Pierce said. "I'm going to enjoy this one tonight. I'm going to enjoy this for the next four weeks straight before I go to bed. I don't see no sleep in my future."